New Years Eve in Israel has become bigger and bigger in recent years, and whilst not officially celebrated and there are now hundreds of New Years Eve parties across Israel, as well as many other special events, which cater to all musical cultural, and social tastes.

New Years in israel is known as Sylvester, and parties are known as Silvester parties. From the bustling Sylvester parties in Tel Aviv`s many nightclubs to cpecial concert and local events.

In recent years, New Years or Sylvester has become incredibly big in Tel Aviv, and is a big night for the city`s restaurants and nightclubs. Many restarurants will become booked up and special parties will take place to bring in the next year. As with anything, there is a huge range of parties catering for different groups and musical tastes.

Christianity was cradled in Judaism, the religion of the Jewish people. Despite their differences, Judaism and Christianity have much in common. The celebration of the birth of Jesus, Christmas, is related to Hanukkah. Both feasts originated in Jerusalem. Both feasts occur in the month of December. On both holidays, it is customary exchange gifts. Both feasts commemorate actual events in history.

Many people think of Hanukkah as the “Jewish Christmas,” but any Jewish person ... will tell you that isn’t true. Hanukkah, of course, has nothing to do with Christmas, other than the 25th day of Kislev [the month on the Jewish calendar in which Hanukkah occurs] usually runs closer to Christmas than it does Thanksgiving.

Both religions celebrate the victory of light over darkness. At Hanukkah, there is a special nine-branch menorah. Eight of the candles on it represent the eight nights of Hanukkah. The ninth candle called, called the shamash, is used to light the other candles. Just as the shamash gives light to the other candles on it, Christians believe that Christmas marks the birth of Jesus, who gives spiritual light to those who believe in him.

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.

Christmas in Israel is unlike anywhere else in the world. Christmas in the Holy Land offers a unique opportunity to focus on the spiritual meaning of the holiday.

Perhaps because it comes three times a year here, this is a peak tourism time, when tens of thousands of pilgrims flock to the Holy Land. Many of them may be in for a surprise though, for despite the influx of pilgrims from abroad, the material and outwardly seasonal displays found in the rest of the world are conspicuously absent. People sometimes complain that they feel a lack of holiday spirit – no trees, no strings of lights, no carols on the radio.

This is understandable, since it is probably the first time many of these visitors find themselves at Christmas in a country where Christians are a distinct minority. For much of the rest of Israel, this is a day like any other, unless it happens to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Chanukah or the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.

These unique products are artistically hand crafted from olive wood, from a tree that has been growing in the Holy Land for hundreds of years. The wood has undergone a natural, five year drying process, which ensures its eternal stability. The great age of the tree lends the wood its naturally artistic forms.

Olive wood is native to the Holy Land. There are olive trees in Israel that are thousands of years old. The trees in the Garden of Gethsemane date back over 2000 years. Olive trees are grown throughout the region in particular in the hills around Jerusalem and in the Galilee.

In Israel it is illegal to destroy a Biblical tree, No trees are cut down to make any of our olive wood products they are made from annual clippings.

Elegant and unique jewelry from the Holy-land, handmade pieces in silver and gold, Roman Glass set in silver and gold, Eilat Stone set in silver and gold, and Hebrew inscribed jewelry, Davidov Jewelry has been manufacturing jewelry in Israel since 1993, Producing the original scripture and Kabala jewelry.

All their work is fabricated from 925 sterling silver combined with gold. The entire process is done in Israel while maintaining a high level of finish. The jewelry is unique and a perfect souvenir for you from Israel the Holy Land.

Some of the blessing on our jewelry: "God Bless You And Protect You" "I Am My Beloved's, And My Beloved Is Mine" "Hear O Israel, The Lord Our God Is One" "The Angels Of God Will Protect All Your Ways"

When the boat sank, some 2,000 years ago, it began filling up with silt until much of its lower hull was encapsulated in a packed-mud time bubble, which slowed down the setting in of decay. However, the damaged inner cells of the wood had decayed and been replaced with water. Even when the boat appeared to be well preserved, the timber was in fact soft and spongy.

Excavation efforts concentrated on extricating the boat in one piece. The major problem confronting the excavators from the start was the need to protect the timber from drying, which would have led to shrinkage and deformation.

In mid January 1986 during a dramatic drop in The Sea Of Galilee's water due to severe droughts that had left the area dry, Moshe and Yuval Lufan two brothers and fishermen from Kibbutz Ginosar, were walking along the west shore when they discovered the outlines of a boat buried in the mud.

The vessel had been buried in and protected by the seabeds sediments, encasing it in an anaerobic state and protecting it from bacteria and decay.

The Lufan brothers notified the Israel Antiquities Authority and an exciting marathon archaeological excavation commenced. The fragile ancient boat was carefully extracted from the mud.

This is the story of the dicovery, excavation and conservation of the Ancient Galilee boat. Moshe and Yuval Lufan, brothers and fishermen from Kibbutz Ginosar, discovered the boat buried in the mud on the west shore of the Sea Of Galilee in an area which is normally underwater, drought and a receding shoreline had left this area dry. The discovery of the boat rocked the archaeological and spiritual world. Never before had such a complete ancient vessel been found so complete.

Through scientific dating, the ancient boat was positively dated to the First Century C.E. Once the boat was positively dated to the time of Jesus.